Friday, February 18, 2005

Just caught this on the rerun of Countdown with Keith Olbermann - Apparently, the Looney Tunes are too old and musty for the kids today, so Warner Bros. animation has decided to update some of the best cartoons ever made into, well, this:

Bugs Bunny has become "Buzz Bunny." Jesus, I can barely type that without pinching my nose and doing another shot of whiskey. He's the star of "Loonatics," which will be part of the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup in the fall. Yes - "Loonatics." They're descendants of the old Looney Tunes, engaging in superpowered hijinks and hilarity 700 years in the future.

I'm not a guy who automatically thinks everything was better in the old days. The WB came up with some hilarious new cartoons in the '90s (not what I mean by "the old days") with Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain. Those shows didn't pander down to kids, try to be cool, and presumably give them what they want.

Here's a quote from Sander Schwartz, president of Warner Bros. Animation: "This is a kids show intended for kids today who are growing up in the Internet age, an age of technology, an age of hip, cool animation, and something that we hope will resonate with that age group."

Kids, you're smarter than this. Right now, I wish I had an Elmer Fudd shotgun pointed at my face.